The Law Will Nullify Grace – Galatians 2:17-21

Topic: The Law will Nullify Grace

Reading: Galatians 2:17-21

17 But if, in our endeavour to be justified in Christ, we ourselves were found to be sinners, is Christ then an agent of sin? Certainly not! 18 But if I build up again those things which I tore down, then I prove myself a transgressor. 19 For I through the law died to the law, that I might live to God. 20 I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me; and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 21 I do not nullify the grace of God; for if justification were through the law, then Christ died to no purpose.

Introduction and Overview

One of the most important teachings in scripture is contained in these few verses. Understanding this will enable Christians to find peace with God in Jesus Christ. It is a core teaching to finding peace within to overcome walking in condemnation.

The law condemns man as a sinner. But in Christ we have died to the law and therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1). But the challenge for many Christians is that they either continue to live as if they are under the law, or they build up the law in their lives again, after being set free.

This scripture tells us not to do that. If we do, we no longer live in peace with God or ourselves. The law does not bring peace because it is a constant reminder of sin and punishment. Christ brings us peace through taking away our sins and removing us from law. It is by baptism into Christ’s death and resurrection that our sins are taken away and we are set free from the law. When we know and believe these things to be true, then we find peace.

We learn also that if we continue to try to live under the law, we nullify the grace of God. Later in Galatians chapter 5 we will see that anyone who tries to find justification by works of the law separates themselves from Christ and the grace of God. (Galatians 5:1-4) If you do not want to be severed from Christ and the grace of God, then these lessons of freedom from the law are essential because the law will nullify grace.

Key points from reading:

1. We cannot live in Christ if we believe we are sinners and under the law.
2. Rebuilding the law after it has been torn down by accepting Christ as your saviour separates you from Jesus and the grace of God.
3. Justification or righteousness comes through faith, and if we seek to be righteous by works of the law we are separated from God’s grace because the law will nullify grace.

Discussion:

1. Scripture: Galatians 2:17
   • When we come to Christ we are seeking His righteousness and justification. Christ came to set you free from sin, and that includes being set free from the law. It is the law that condemns people as sinners when they do not keep the law. “Sin is lawlessness” as it says in 1 John 3:4. That is, sin is the breaking of the law. But in Christ our sins are taken away (John 1:29) and the law is removed so that we cannot sin again. When we are baptised into the death and resurrection of Christ, we die with Him. In that death we die to sin and die to the law to remove sin and take away the power of sin, which is the law (1 Corinthians 15:56).
   • However, this works only when we hold fast to the truth and believe with faith that these things have occurred. If, having been baptised, we then decide that we are still sinners and we are still under the law, then we have effectively rejected our baptism, rejected the faith and turned away from Christ. By putting ourselves back under the law and believing we are still sinners we have nullified the grace of God. We have rejected the sacrifice that Jesus made for us and turned back to a pre-baptism state. Seeking justification under the law and doing works of the law will separate us from the grace of God, because the law nullifies grace.
   • If we do this, does that make Christ an agent of sin? Certainly not, as the scripture says. If Christ expected Christians to live under the works of the law, then He would be saying that you are still a sinner and His sacrifice that we receive in baptism is pointless. If Christ were telling you to live under the law, then He would be nullifying His own sacrifice that sets you free from the law.
   • But Christ did not say to do these things. Christ did not tell you to live under and do the works of the law. Many Christians believe that they have to live under the law, not because Christ said to, but because they are taught that in their churches. They believe they have to do the works of the law, such as: fasting, tithing, not eating certain foods, not wearing certain clothes, keeping certain holy days, and so on. Such things are of no value because they cannot make a person perfect in mind and heart. These things are about checking the indulgence of the flesh, but Christ gave Himself to set you free from sin and the law because the law will nullify grace.
2. Scripture: Galatians 2:18
   • The desire to be under the bondage of the law does not come from Christ. It comes from the erroneous teachings of men in the church who have fallen into the same trap as the Galatians church. Paul was trying to turn the Galatians back to Christ. Someone was teaching them that they had to be circumcised and to keep the laws of Moses. But living under the law is not the truth of the Christian covenant.
   • Now, don’t get me wrong here. The law is holy, just, and good, as it says in Romans 7:12. But the law does not bring freedom. The law binds a person up in it’s legal demands and condemns those who fail to keep it as sinners. But Christ came to set you free from sin and in doing so, He took away the law that condemns people as sinners.
   • It is not possible to remain under the bondage of the law as a sinner, while being set free from the law in Christ Jesus through grace. You cannot be free and bound at the same time. This is why we are told that the law will nullify grace and seeking justification under the law separates us from Christ Jesus and the grace of God. It is simply because you cannot be in two states, bondage and freedom, at the same time.
   • So, in this verse we see that it is not Christ who insists we remain under the law. But if we ourselves put ourselves back under the law, after Christ has set us free, then we make ourselves to be transgressors of the law. We make ourselves sinners when we accept the law and that we can be condemned by the law as sinners. We are the ones who are holding onto the ways of sin under the law, rather than the freedom in Christ Jesus through grace.
   • Far be it from me to return to a life under the law when Christ has set me free from it. Why would I choose bondage over freedom? Why would I choose sin over grace? Why would I choose the way of the world that leads to death, rather than the ways of God that lead to life in Jesus Christ? I will not put myself back under the laws of sin and death because Jesus has set me free from those things.
   • And yet many Christians choose to reject the truth in favour of the appearance of righteousness and holiness by doing the works of the law. They do not understand that the law will nullify grace and take them away from Christ. Accept the freedom that Christ died to give you and do not put yourself back under the law.
3. Scripture: Galatians 2:19-20
   • If you have been baptised into the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ you have died with Christ. And through baptism, you have died to the law and your sins are taken away. You are no longer living in sin and a sinner. After baptism, you no longer live to yourself but Christ lives in you and you live to God. God has begun the work of transformation through the Spirit, so that Christ is being formed in you.
   • All of this occurs through faith. When you have been baptised you need to believe these things to be true. Faith is the basis by which we come to God in Jesus Christ. And part of this faith is believing you are dead to sin, dead to the law, and a new creation in Jesus Christ.
   • Do not seek the ways of the law because the law will nullify grace. Instead seek the teachings of Jesus Christ that cover things like: love, mercy, peace, compassion, faith, joy, patience, kindness, gentleness, self-control, and overcoming the flesh. The teachings of Christ through power and working of the Holy Spirit will bring you victory over sin and over the flesh that the works of the law cannot achieve.
   • This is how you now need to live. You live by faith, not works, and you live to please God, not to please the flesh.
4. Scripture: Galatians 2:21
   • This final verse brings this teaching together. If justification were through the law, then there was no need for Christ to die. That is, if you could be made righteous by keeping the law with all of it’s sacrifices and works, then you would not need Christ.
   • But justification and righteousness are not things of the flesh. They are matters of the Spirit. It is in our spirits that we must be cleansed so that we are purified, and sanctified in the spirit to please God. It is our spirits that are made filthy because of sin, and it is in the spirits of people that we need the cleansing power of the blood of Jesus.
   • The law will nullify grace because the law is based upon works while grace is based upon faith. True justification comes by faith, just as all of the gifts and teachings of God and Jesus Christ are based upon faith. Your salvation is based upon faith and the grace of God. Therefore, you would not want that to be nullified through seeking to be righteous by the works of law.
   • And I should add that it is impossible to even follow the letter of the law. The scripture tells us that anyone who fails in one point of the law, fails in all of it. As it says in James 2:10, “For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it.” Those who wish to live under the law cannot pick and choose which laws to keep. They have to keep all 650-plus, and that is impossible. You see, under the law there were the blood sacrifices that had to be offered and certain cleansing rituals that could only be done in the Temple at Jerusalem. But the Temple was destroyed in 70 A.D. and has not yet been rebuilt. Thus, many parts of the Old Testament law cannot be performed and so anyone seeking to be justified by the works of the law cannot even do that since there is no Temple.
   • Also, if justification were through the law, and if the Temple worship and sacrifices etc., were important, do you not think that God would have prevented the destruction of the Temple? We know that when Jesus died the curtain of the Temple was ripped in two from top to bottom (Matthew 27:51). This was indicating that the way was opened for man to enter into the presence of God, since under the law only the high priests could enter behind the curtain. But now, in Christ Jesus, we can all enter the presence of God. And this fact was underlined by the destruction of the Temple in 70 A.D. as since that time the works of the law required to be performed in the Temple could not take place since there is no Temple.
   • All of this points to the fact that the law will nullify grace. That is why in Christ Jesus the law has been taken away. So we must be certain that we do not build the law up once again and sever ourselves from Jesus Christ and the grace of God.

Prayer Points

1. Pray and ask the Lord to show you the fullness of these things and to gain a full understanding of this freedom from sin and freedom from the law.
2. Pray and ask God to help you to see when you are building up the law again so that you do not nullify the grace of God.